1000 ways to use the local web

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0273: New student orientation

Making the leap from high school to college is one of the most abrupt transitions a person will go through in their lives. They are thrust from hometowns where the world made sense into an academic commune of sorts where there are new rules. Many of those new rules can be found in the handbook, but most of them you need to figure out on your own.

The lack of available information coupled with new social and academic expectations can really do a number on an incoming freshman’s anxiety levels. While there may be official places to get help and information, these may not be well publicized or may be too formal for the minutiae of a freshman’s various curiosities.

Fortunately, the local web exists as a way to fill in the anxiety inducing gaps between students and the information they need. It also serves as a way to bring the community together in simple and digital ways.

At Colgate University you can find a local web slash for various freshman dorms, like /drake or /andrews. This way students can social network on their phones, which they are already on anyways, and make valuable real word connections with the people who are probably just a few doors down.

The front page of the local web is a list of all the slashes in the area that people have created, sorted by activity. If you want to find out what people are talking about at Colgate you might want to check the calendar or their twitter account. But if you REALLY want to know what people are talking about, then check to see what is popular on the local web. Incoming freshmen are asking questions and getting them answered at /incoming.freshman and various groups and volunteer organizations are spreading their own awareness to the study body simply be communicating on /volunteering.

The first few months for freshmen will invariably have more questions than answers. By bringing students together online in a natural and fun way, freshmen can get the courage to break out of their social shells that form when life can be overwhelming. The first step to growth as a group is getting everyone on the same page. At Colgate, that page is the local web.

We are building the local web and sharing a new way to use it each day.